Contents

Discoveries and theories

Juan Fernández Islands

In 1574 he discovered an alternative maritime route between
Callao and
Valparaíso, much faster than the old route which bordered the coastline. By taking a detour west from the coast, he managed to avoid the northernly
Humboldt Current which used to slow down ships sailing south along the coast. In doing so, he discovered the
Juan Fernández Islandsarchipelago, located west of present-day Valparaíso in the southeastern Pacific Ocean. He also discovered the Pacific islands of
San Félix and
San Ambrosio in 1574.

New Zealand

Early historians such as
Alexander Dalrymple and
James Burney claim that Juan Fernández was the first European to reach New Zealand. In 1575 the governor of
Cuyo,
Juan Jufré, organized an expedition to
Terra Australis under the command of Juan Fernandez. The expedition was authorized by the governor of
Chile but not the
Viceroy of Peru. As a result, Jufré changed the official itinerary and pretended his expedition would only sail to the
islands discovered by Fernández in 1574. In fact, the real destination of the expedition was still
Terra Australis. Soon Juan Fernandez set sail from Valparaíso. After heading west for one month along the
40th parallel south, in the spring of 1576 they arrived in an island described as "mountainous, fertile, with strong-flowing rivers, inhabited by white peoples, and with all the fruits necessary to live".[1]

Later, the expedition set sail back for
Chile and Juan Fernández wished to convey his discovery to government officials. However, Juan Jufré refused. He requested that the discovery be kept a secret as the expedition had not been authorized by the Viceroy of Peru. Later, after Jufré's death in 1578, Fernández finally shared the discovery with the authorities and tried to convince them of the need to return to the islands and establish a colony. The idea was scrapped due to lack of interest. A record exists in the Spanish Admiralty libraries which describes this discovery. It was reviewed in the 19th century by the Chilean biographer
José Toribio Medina who is one of the main sources for the claim in South American literature.[2]

Mainstream historians do not however accept these claims.
University of Auckland history professor
James Belich said that similar claims that the French and Chinese discovered New Zealand prior to
Abel Tasman in 1642 have also been put forward. "I think there are a number of theories of this kind and all are highly unlikely.".[3]

In the opinion of another
University of Auckland professor, Phyllis Herda, despite the short duration of the trip between Chile and New Zealand (one month, according to Spanish records) Juan Fernández was known to be a brilliant navigator. In 1574 he discovered the much faster route between Peru and Chile and was since known as the brujo del Pacífico or "wizard of the Pacific".[4]